Tuesday, 17 June 2014

I visited Castlemartin this weekend, an area of coastline
used as a firing range by the MOD and closed to the public except on odd
occasions. It is the site of some spectacular loomeries, mainly on flat topped
sea stacks close to the cliff ledge, most notably Craig Elegug (guillemot rock)
which allows close eyelevel views of the birds. I wanted to focus on these
really dense groups, as a type I had not yet explored in the loomoery scroll
drawings. This density resulted in some pretty intense and laborious drawing,
working in detail over the whole weekend to produce a drawing of a long
vertical ledge cascading down the left side of Elegug. Last night there was no
night firing so I had a chance to visit Castlemartin from five until dark. As a
remedy to the detailed drawing of the weekend I wanted to cut loose and did
this by working in ink and brush, using minimal brush strokes to describe each
bird. I was able to cover a lot of ground quickly this way and see the colony
as a complete entity. As the drawing progressed from left to right as I always
work on a scroll, the colony became denser and I soon lost individuals in the
mass of movement. In response my mark making had to grow faster to cope with
the constant movement and I soon found a new rhythm of working to describe
whole formations of birds rather than individuals. I felt my drawing became
more energetic the more intense the energy of the colony became deep in the
densest sections. In this respect, despite losing my more illustrative approach
I feel this drawing approach responds to and therefore documents the energy and
cohesion of a loomery even if it is visually a more abstract expression. I
finished the drawing at 22.47 in total darkness which may of helped the drawing
progress as well.

Detail of very dense section on Elegug, brush and ink

This may be the last of these drawings I make form
observation this season, unless I can return in time for fledging. It seems
appropriate to end with a night drawing, on a still night and a near full moon
rising but also with new ideas to give the project momentum.